Journal

Ever since I was a kid, I've gotten sick with a bad cold or flu during spring break. That really cuts into your fun, let me tell you. This year was no exception. I woke up on the morning after Easter with a dreadful sore throat.

After three weeks I have residual congestion and a hacking cough. Nothing - not cough drops, cough syrup, inhaler, or Bruce's special hot toddy - will stop the coughing attacks when they strike. The slightest exertion - and sometimes nothing at all - brings them on.

In frustration, I dusted off my spinning wheel and dug some fiber out of my stash. Armed with a box of Kleenex, a few cough drops and a cup of tea, I sat down to some gentle spinning. Sure enough, as I spin the cough reflex fades away and I experience relief for a time. It's like some blessed Rumpelstiltskin curse, as long as I spin, I don't cough. I stop spinning, I start coughing. But sooner or later, I have to sleep - or try to.

Esther Benedict

I always knew I would weave. From the time I got my first potholder loom as a child I was enchanted with taking thread and making it into cloth. It took another twenty years, though before I finally got myself a real, grown-up loom, and another twenty years after that for me to decide to make weaving part of my livelihood.

I enjoy most fiber arts, including spinning, dyeing, sewing and embroidery, as well as weaving.

I haven't give up my day job - I'm still a law firm administrator, as I have been for about thirty years. I like working for lawyers - they're smart, demanding people who keep me on my toes. I keep them organized.

I live in Oxnard, California with my husband Bruce, a dachshund named Rosie and a tabby cat called KiKi.